Monday, 24 Aug 2020 05:33 PM MYTDewan Rakyat Speaker, Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun during the second meeting of the third session of the 14th Parliament in Kuala Lumpur July 13, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — An uproar in Dewan Rakyat today during the afternoon session led to an Opposition MP being ejected from the House after he thrice refused to take his seat as ordered by Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun. DAP’s Beruas MP Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham was told to leave the House while he was trying to seek clarification from Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz on whether or not 101 projects worth RM6.61 billion were awarded through direct negotiations under the then Pakatan Harapan administration.
“This [Dewan Rakyat] is the highest voice for the people. I’d like to remind the Speaker he should only chair but not curtail the voices of the MPs,” Ngeh told reporters after he was ejected from the House. He insisted that he was only trying to ask the finance minister to clarify the projects and accused Azhar of being partial.He also insisted that Azhar should resign as Speaker for allegedly overstepping his authority.